Astor Steals the Show in Antigua Classic Regatta

Latitude would like to give a big salute to Richard and Lani Stramen of the Newport Beach-based Astor, an 86-ft (overall) Fife schooner that was built in Scotland in — get this — 1923. The couple and their crew not only took Concours honors in class at the prestigious Antigua Classic Regatta in April, but they bested 60 other great classics — including two J Class yachts — and Spirit of Tradition yachts to win overall Concours honors. But that's not all. Proving that Astor is much more than a pretty face, they also took first place racing honors in Vintage Class A. Well done! Mind you, this is a schooner they recently spent six years cruising 60,000 miles in the South Pacific.

Weekend Racing Wrap-up

Despite some less-than-promising forecasts earlier in the week, the Great Vallejo Race and YRA Season Opener got some decent breeze both days. The 27-division, 227-boat fleet that made at least the downwind slide to Vallejo, got a little rain, and little sunshine on Saturday, but there was breeze and ripping ebb for both days.

While it seemed that most folks had pretty uneventful trips down, there was a big pre-start collision — Jim Forni's C&C 121 Sweetspot T-boned Gary Gebhard's Holland 47 Infinity just forward of the chainplates. In the ensuing mayhem, a crewmember aboard Infinity reportedly received facial fractures and had to undergo surgery.

YRA already has the preliminary results up for both Saturday and Sunday, as well as the "discrepancies form" — make sure to check them out. Do you have a good Vallejo story? Great pictures of the party? Send them here, and they may get in the race's write-up in the June issue of Latitiude 38.

Down the Coast in Santa Cruz, the Moore 24 PCCs came down to one race — the first, last and only race. After a postponement, that race got underway at about 1 p.m. Saturday, and didn't get finished until about 4:15 p.m., according to Dan Nitake, who sailed his Absinthe to sixth. Scott Easom's Eight Ball and David Hodges/Scott Walecka's Adios were 1-2 respectively. Sunday was a wash-out, and racing was abandoned.

Three California collegiate teams made the trek to Boston for the ICSA co-ed dinghy national semifinals. Cal Maritime, Stanford and UC Santa Barbara were three of the 36 schools sailing for 18 spots for the finals which will be hosted by Stanford and St. Francis YC at the end of May. Only Stanford was able to crack that group, finishing sixth in the 'Eastern' bracket, while UC Santa Barbara finished 12th, three spots away from a finals berth. The young CMA team finished 18th in the 'Western' bracket.

- latitude / rg

Latest Threat to DBW

May 4, 2009
– Sacramento

On May 14, an important decision regarding boating in this state will be made in Sacramento. If it goes our way, recreational boating in the Golden State will remain, well, golden. We will continue to get excellent boating safety and education programs, grants to improve marina and launching facilities, and timely environmental work involving green boating and invasive species control. If it goes against us, boating concerns will largely disappear into the huge morass of inefficiency which has gotten the state into all this trouble in the first place.

We’re talking — once again — about the proposal to eliminate the Department of Boating and Waterways and transfer its responsibilities and administration to the Department of Parks and Recreation. Simply put, this would be a disaster. In its 52-year history, DBW has been a model of efficiency and — more to the point in these tough economic times — it doesn’t cost the state a dime! The organization operates entirely on the taxes you pay at the fuel dock, the fees you pay to register your boat, and some long-term investments. The DBW budget has therefore fluctuated over the years (from upwards of $100 million a few years ago to $77 million last year), but they still accomplish their mission. Parks and Rec, on the other hand, has suffered several cutbacks over the years, making it less efficient. As part of its assignment to cut costs for the 2008-2009 budget, it is planning to close or partially close 48 state parks, and its backlog of deferred maintenance alone now totals $1.2 billion. How well do you think boating is going to be supported by these guys?

This is the fourth time since 1992 that lawmakers have tried to eliminate DBW. The previous three were stopped short by overwhelming response from boaters (and the tireless efforts of watchdog organizations like RBOC — the Recreational Boaters of California). We hope you guys will rally once more to stop this latest attempt.

Check out RBOC's Call to Arms, then contact the three senators on Senate Budget Subcommittee 2:

One segment of the world of sailing that seems not to have been hurt by the poor — although apparently recovering — global economy is sailing rallies. We give you three examples:

First, within 48 hours of being announced on 'Lectronic, all slots in Latitude's Delta Doo Dah Rally, from June 27 to July 3, were taken. Maybe next year we'll have room for more.

Second, the World Cruising folks in jolly old England have announced they have already received 181 paid entries for their Atlantic Rally for Cruisers (ARC) that starts in November. Six of the entries are from the U.S.

Finally, although entries weren't accepted for this fall's 'Sweet Sixteen' Baja Ha-Ha until Friday, 29 of them were received by Monday morning. One of the main reasons people sign up for the Ha-Ha early is that it gives them a better chance at getting a slip in Cabo when the fleet first arrives. While the 10-entries-per-day pace of sign-ups certainly can't be sustained, it suggests that there might well be a good Ha-Ha turnout despite the poor economy. As for us, we haven't brought Profligate back from Mexico yet — but we still can't wait to sail south with the Ha-Ha again!

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For details email Ray or Jeannette from Mazatlan Yachts or call toll free at (888) 716-7430. Check out the full listing here.